Body found in Shark River inlet identified as Neptune teen who disappeared off of Bradley Beach

MONMOUTH COUNTY — A body recovered from the Shark River Inlet in Monmouth County today has been positively identified as that of Naisere Nelson, the Neptune teenager who was caught in a rip current of Bradley Beach last week.

Bradley Beach Police Chief Leonard Guida said a fisherman spotted the body at about 5:30 p.m. near the Ocean Avenue bridge that separates Avon-by-the-Sea and Belmar. The spot is about a mile from where the 15-year-old Nelson disappeared.

Authorities believed from the start the body was that of the Nelson.

FacebookNaisere Nelson, of Neptune, in an undated Facebook photo.

Nelson was positively identified by a family friend who is also a law enforcement officer, Guida said.

"It is closure to his family and his friends," Guida said. "It’s a huge relief just to know and have him back with the family and not be out in the ocean alone."

A autopsy will be conducted Wednesday to determine an exact cause of death, the chief said.

A sophomore at Neptune High School, Nelson was swimming in shoulder-deep water off Bradley Beach last Thursday afternoon when a rip current dragged him off-shore. Two other swimmers, a man and a woman from Elizabeth, were rescued.

Nelson’s disappearance set off a frantic search during which hundreds of schoolmates and relatives maintained a vigil along the shoreline. At one point, they lined up ankle deep in the water, forming a 100-person chain for a moment of silence. The search was eventually called off at midday Friday.

Shayna Meggs, 16, Nelson’s girlfriend of a year, came to the bridge soon after hearing from a family member a body had been found in the Shark River.

Knowing it the body was Nelson’s brought relief, she said, as it erased the tiny possibility that he may have been alive.

"I feel better, and it brings closure to everybody to know he’s not in the water anymore," Meggs said.